Improvement in cork-cutting machine



es litlurl i tant ldt-'ect GEORGE HAMMER, OF PH'lLA DELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA,ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND ALFRED BU'lZ, Ol" SAME PLACE.

Letters Patent No. 83,850, dated Normal/er 10, 1868.

MROVEMENT N CORK-CUTTING- MACHmE.

To all whom it r11-ay concern:

Be it known that l, Geenen HAMMER, ofthe city of Philadelphia. and AState oi' Pennsylvania, have iuvented celtaln new and useful Improvements in Cork- Cutting Machines; and I dovhereby declare the following to be a full and e.\'act description of .the same, reference being had to the accompanying dia-wing, and to the figures and letters of reference marked thereon.

, The principal object of my invention is to devise a machine, by means of which all requisite successive operations for transforming the law bark of the corktree into any ofthe various descriptions of corks, may be conducted in such a manuel' that several operatives can be simultaneously employed at diiierent manipulations upon the same machine, without hindrance to each other.

The nature ofthe invention consists- First, inan 4improved anangment and combination of mechanism Vfor cutting tapered corks from square blocks, or from cylindrical corks.

Secondly, iu an improved machine for the preliminasyopemtion ofcuizting the rawwrk into slices', and also for cutting these slices into straight or bevelled blocks, of any inquired size, for reducing them to a cylindrical or tapered form, in the tirstinel1tioned part of the machine.

The improvement consists, thirdly, in so combining with the above mechauisina third appendage for cut ting dat and cylindrical corks, by means of revolving cutters, that the wholemay be operated simultaneously by one driving-belt.

1n order that my said invention may be fully understood, I will now proceed more particularly to describe the same.

On reference to the drawing, making part of this specification, and in which similar' letters of reference allude to like part-s throughout the' several views- Figiue 1 Ais a side view of the improved cork-cutting machine, combining the above-mentioned devices for the several successive operations;

Figure 2 is a front View of the machine;

Figure 3is a plan of that part of the machine in which the bark is first sliced, and then cut into blocks;

Figure 4 is a detached view (plan) ot'part of the mechanism for cutting tape'redcorks;

Figure 5 is a detached side view of the feed-:man gement for cylindrical blocks to the'tapering-machine;

Figure 6 isa plan thereof; and Figure 7, a detached view of theleed-tablc, lbrsquare or bcvelledblocks, to the tapering-machine. A is the main shaft of thev machine, provided with tast and loose pulleys a a', and carrying, at its extreme ends, outside of the adiustable bearings b b, the circular cutting-disks or knives B and C, the larger one of which, B, serves to cut conical or cylindlical corks from blanks, fed to it by means ofthe sliding-spindle frame D. ,This frame (hereafter more fully described) is fastcned, in au adjustable manner, to the slide E, recipro- The teeding-device, for supplying cylindrical blocks to the spindlefor transmittal to the knife B, is supported upon a stand, c, and is constructed as follows:

Att-ached to the stand c, and verticallyv adjustable on the same, by mea-ns of a screw, (l,.is a rectangular piece, 0n top ofthe horizontal palt of Il' is placed the gauge c, which is lengthwise adjustable on l1', and securedby a screw and uut. A receptacle, G, for the rorks to be fed to the. spindles, is provided, on top of e. The position in which the cork is placed for being pad, j, swinging upon asma-ll rock-shaft, g, which pad is suliiciently yielding to allow the cork to be remov horizontally toward the cutting-disk. A sliding movement ofthe spindle-frame D, for alternately carrying the corks to the knife, and return-A iug to the feed-table foranent one; is given by means of a cord or band, h, so attached to the opposite ends l of. thc slide E, and to the periphery of a pulley, H, that,

byTneans'of'a lever, H', on the pullcy-shaft i, motion is transmitted to'E, by the cord Il, in'either direction. The outward movement ofthe slide E is arrested bya fixed stop, I, on the plate F, while a. screw, I', serves as an adjustable stop for the movement of E, in .thc opposite direction. .By varying the position of this screw, the linished diameter ofthe cork'is regulated with accuracy.

The live spindle J, for rotating tbc cork as itispresented to the cutting-edge of the circular knife B, is driven by means of a chain, i, passing over the pulleys j and je, the latter being the driver, and receiving niotion, through the bevel-wheels j3 and bcltj, from the main shaftA. jis provided with a clutch, and so actuated, by a clutch-lever, 1.1, and ann k', prqiect-ing from slide E, that the spindle J ceases to rota-te as it recedes toward the feed-table, and is in tum thrown into action when approaching the cutting-disk.

The spindles being thus at rest, when grasping the blank to conduct it to the knife, will be unich moreceitain to take accurate hold ofthe bla-nk than it' they were revolving at the time.

A rocking-arm, K, actuated during thc sliding motion of E, by an inclined plane, 'i, and bya spiral spring, tz, on the spindle J serves to give the requisite sliding movements to that spindle, for alternately grasping and releasing the cork's as they pass through the machine. Although this sliding motion of one spindle only isordinarily suicient, it. may, in some cases, be advantageously given to both'A spindles.

The anangemcnt ofthe inclined plauei, and the manner in whichit actuates, tln'ough the double-armed lever K, the spindle J', will be best understood upon referenceto Iig. 4. Here it will be seen that t" is at.

tached to a plate,-I1, in the following peculiar manner.: It has a limited vibrating movement upon a. central axis, 1f, between two small stops, 2, 3, the axis Ibeig' i, 1 vonlned in an oblong opening in the pla-te L. A light coiled spring, 4, bears against one end ot' i, and brings its other cud in'contact with the. pin 3.

The operation ofthe whole as follows: rlhe lever l{,.\vhilc holdingr the cork to the knife, occupies the position represented in lig. 2, and' as it recedes toward the icerht-able, its srnall friction-roller 5 brings up against i, as shown in red lines at 4. B v yielding to the inclined plane, the lower ann of K is drawn inward, and, by a consequent movement otf its upperyeud in a-n outward direction, the, cork just linished is released troni between the two spindles andl'alls down. ln this separa-ted position, the spindles remain during the. whole outward movement, until, at the instant of the slide E bringing up against the stop I, the frictionroller :'i is liberatori from the inclined plaire. The spiral spring i being thus freed from its previous compression, suddenly pushes th spindle J' inward, to make itgrnsp the cork or block on the feed-table.

The roller 5, on the. arm K, is now in the position shown in red dotted lines, lig. 4, and :rs upon the advance of E toward the knife this roller cornes in Contact lith the inclined plane on the opposite side, the lat ter will yield to it in theioblong bearing of its axis l, so as not to disturb the spindles in their' hohl upon the cork tobe c ut. In returning 'om th'e knife, the described routine of movements is repeated.

By an arrangement of hoppers or inclined planes, clearly shownin iig. 1, the chips are separated from the4 finished corks. The former, curling up on the imreriside of the knife, fall into the large hopper M, and are heaped up under the frame of the machine, while the corks, as they leave the spindles, are carried over' two yinclined planes, m and n,in to a separate reeeptacle..v

N and N' are small oil-stones, so attached to 'their supports as to press lightly against opposite sides of thc cutting-edge ofthe knife, thus keeping it uniformly sharp.

The mechanism for cutting the bark into strips consists, in addition to the ,small circular knife O, of atable, U, and gauge O'. The end ct' the piece of barktobe Vout iuto slices is held against the gauge O',`and then laterally advanced toward the edge ofthe revolving circular knife 0, the direction of motion of which is such as to draw the bark through without the least application of fonce on the part ofthe workman.

For the subsequent operation of reducingthese strips into blocks, a sliding saddle, P, is employed, in addition to the gauge O', which saddle has a vibrating headpiece, Q. Viren required fr cutting blocks with par- 'allel sides, this head-pieceis pernianentlytastened upon the sliding saddle P, iu the position shown in the drawing, tig. 3; but the same parts are, in a very simple and eticient manner, adapted tocuttingr blocks with tapering sides, iiou'r which tapered 'corks can be cut most economically. lo this end the head-piece Q is made to vibrate upon an axis, 11, this movement being limited between adjustable stops g y.. The strip of provided with a frame, R, carrying, in bearings S S,

the hollow cutteraspindle T, for-cutting cylindrical or fiat oorks, of any required diameter and thickness, by

means of changeable critters set into the lower end of the spindle. (The arrangement and operationof these parts are the same as those miuutely describedin my patent-, granted February 15, 1859.)

U is the table, upon which rests the slice of cork-to be operated upon by the revolving cutter, and V is the lever tor actuating thecutter-spindle. The latter is driven from a. pulley on the' main shaft A, by means of a half-twist belt ruiming over the small pulley W.

Having thus fully described the construction andobjects of mylimprovements, I do not desire to confine myself, -in the arrangement of the same, tothe detailY of the described parts in ev'ery minutie., as their construction maybe varied, 'or equivalentil substituted, without impairirrg my invention. y

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isi l.. The slidingspindle--ame I), when itslive spindle J is actuated by the clutched chain-pulley j, and clutch-lever k, substantially as and for the purpose specified.'

2. ,Opemting the sliding spindle J', by means of the double lever K spring if, and inclined plane i, substantially'irr the manner and for' the purpose described.-

3. In combination with the cutting-'disk C, the slid- Ving saddle I", when its vibrating headfpiece Q is, re-

spectively to the stops q q and gaug O arranged substantially in the manner and for the pmpose set forthr 4. The deseribed'combination ofthe mechanism for slicing the cork, and for' tapered'aud cylindrical cutting, when the same are so arranged as to be simultaneously operated from one (hiving-shait .A, substantially as specified.

. GEORGE HAMMER. Witnesses:

Tnnononn Bananen, WLLLIAM Scrrnnrmr.. 

